LAPU LAPU
Lapu-Lapu is also known under the names of Si Lapulapu, Salip Pulaka, Cali Pulaco, and LapuLapu Dimantag. And while historians can’t unanimously agree on his real name, the man has always been etched in history for his battle against Portuguese explorer and conquistador Ferdinand Magellan.
In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan unintentionally stumbled upon Homonhon Island (known today as Samar) while he was en route to Indonesia’s Spice Islands. There, he was able to establish an allegiance with the local rulers, particularly Rajah Humabon of Cebu. It was Magellan who convinced Rajah Humabon and his wife to be baptized into Catholicism and later offered them the Santo Nino. This is said to be the very moment in history when the Christian religion was introduced to the Philippines.
DATU LAPU-LAPU
whose name was first recorded as Çilapulapu was a datu (chief) of Mactan in the Visayas in the Philippines. He is best known for the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn on April 27, 1521, where he and his warriors defeated the Spanish forces led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his native allies Rajah Humabon and Datu Zula Magellan's death ended his voyage of circumnavigation and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty yearsuntil the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564. Legazpi continued the expeditions of Magellan, leading to the colonization of the Philippines for 333 years.